Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian: The Quest of Passion
by Bonesboy15
Summary: Before SHDG II: A Hero's Peril, Naruto and Thalia are given quest on February 13th, the day before Valentine's by none other than Eros himself. A short special I came up with on Valentine's Day, though published late, and filled with fluff, teasing and banter between the favorite couple of the Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian soon to be trilogy. T for language.


**Note: This story takes place a few months before SHDG II: A Hero's Peril.**

**Happy Valentine's Day!**

**(Sorry it's late!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_** or **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_**.**

**Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian: The Quest of Passion**

* * *

The snow was melting outside the grounds of Camp Half-Blood – the sanctuary of Greek demigods (yes, they exist) – as February came around. The nymphs were checking on the trees along the border, to see if any had died over the cold winter. Satyrs were preparing to bus out and pick up the kids for the upcoming summer as well as find a few new ones thanks to a few hints from the most recent addition to the camp's hierarchy. At the top of the hierarchy was the camp director Dionysus the God of Wine, or Mr. D as he prefers to be called by the campers. Next was the activities director, Chiron, the famous centaur trainer of heroes. It was the most recently added cabin counselor who we focus on now as he rests in the branch of the largest pine tree that sat upon Half-Blood Hill.

"Ugh, I hate February . . ." grumbled our protagonist as he struggled to get comfortable in his perch about twenty feet off the ground. He was a youth of about seventeen years of age with a handsome face, despite the fact his tanned cheeks were adorned with three thin lines each, giving him a slight animalistic look, and his wild golden blond hair blew slightly in the warm breeze. His eyelids slid up as the sun rose, the light revealing his unique eyes; cerulean blue with small golden suns acting as pupils. A small smirk tugged at his cheeks as he watched the sunrise. "Finally getting off your ass? Good thing we got you that alarm clock for Christmas."

He stretched out his arms and yawned, rolling his neck and electing a few cracks from his stiff vertebrae. His fingers interlaced and stretched above his head, causing his orange and red shirt adorned with the camp's name to slide up and reveal a small portion of his toned stomach. With a sigh he dropped his arms to his sides and shifted his seating to dangle his legs off the edge of the branch. The sunlight landed on him and he grinned like a fox.

This is our hero, the Guardian of Hades' Children, Counselor of Cabin 13, Naruto Uzumaki (Namikaze).

"Mornin' Dad!" he said to no one in particular. "You're only a minute and thirty milliseconds late, today. Let's see if you can't lower it tomorrow, shall we?"

Naruto suddenly sneezed, leaning forward far enough that it caused him to fall. He crashed through the branches, using his arms to protect his face, before landing on the rough back of a copper scaled dragon with a grunt. The dragon gave a small snort as the blond slid off with a groan.

"Thanks for the catch, Peleus," said Naruto, his arms wrapped around his stomach from the rough landing he had. The young copper scaled dragon, Peleus, looked at the blond demigod with his snakelike head, yellow eyes gleaming with innocence and the youth that he had within him. He was young, hardly a year old, and just barely able to wrap himself halfway around the tree he lie beneath.

Getting to his feet, Naruto pressed his hands against his back and pushed, cracking his back with a pleased sigh escaping his lips. His scrapes from the fall were already healing up thanks to his natural bloodline, and he knew that he could've avoided the fall if he had been thinking clearly, but he wasn't due to just waking up after a disturbed sleep.

_Just like dear old Dad_, said the voice of a youthful male in the blond's head. It was the voice of Helios, God of the Sun. Why was he speaking in the blond's head, you ask? Well, last winter on a quest to save Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and Moon, Naruto discovered that he was a new form of demigod. A sort of reincarnated god, able to speak with the former Titan-God Helios within a portion of his soul dubbed The Fade and use the power of the once Faded God to fight. This discovery led to his victory over the Titan Atlas and the rescue of Artemis, Naruto's aunt. This made Naruto not only a reincarnated God of the Sun, but it also made him the son of Apollo, God of Light and the replacement God of the Sun. What that meant, Naruto wasn't sure.

_Oh, no one asked you,_ said Naruto to Helios. He often got witty quips after something happened to him, such as falling out of a tree after sneezing or getting kissed on the cheek by a goddess (Helios really liked to bring up that kiss from Hecate a lot during their conversations). The blond demigod patted Peleus on the head before he walked back into camp.

_Lee and the others should be up soon,_ thought the blond. Naruto was speaking of course of his younger siblings, the members of Cabin Seven, where the other children of Apollo stayed. Lee Fletcher was the oldest of these younger siblings and was the cabin counselor due to his age. Like his older brother, Lee was a tall tanned teen with blue eyes and blond hair, but unlike Naruto – who had broad shoulders, the build of an martial artist and looked as though his body was chiseled from marble – was built like a surfer that just regularly took care of himself. Unlike his older brother, Lee wasn't plagued with prophetic dreams and thus didn't wake up before the crack of dawn, wandering the campgrounds while bending the light around him to become invisible to evade the harpies.

_I think your brother's girlfriend's cabin is already up,_ said Helios.

_As Mr. D would say: Well duh, Helios,_ said Naruto. His eyes rolled at the obviousness in his past life's musing. Lee's girlfriend, Katie Gardner, was a daughter of Demeter, the Goddess of the Harvest. Even though she wasn't here, her siblings acted like a good farming family; Cabin Four's members woke up before dawn to get a hearty grain filled breakfast at the dining pavilion.

"Morning Naruto!" chirped the three kids as he utilized his special teleporting ability known as **Hiraishin** to appear at the pavilion. Naruto beamed a smile at them, causing the sole girl there to blush lightly.

"G' morning Miranda. George. Mickey," he said with a nod to the three farmers. His poor sleeping habits have cost him a full night's rest so he used his morning time to get to know the hardworking cabin members that kept the camp afloat. Miranda was just a couple of years younger than her sister Katie and had elected to remain at camp year round. He hadn't gotten around to asking why yet; the girl was shier than his childhood classmate Hinata and normally would clam up after greeting him.

Naruto grabbed a seat at his father's table, taking the offered plate of Canadian bacon, eggs and hash browns. He ate slowly; wondering how today was going to go.

_Maybe you should try to figure out that dream,_ said Helios. Naruto dropped his fork and put both hands over his face with a groan. The dream had literally made no sense whatsoever: A beating heart randomly caught fire along a dirt road. It was then snatched up by a turtle that pulled it into the extremely colorful shell. He had never heard of a more nonsensical vision.

_Don't you think I have been, Mr. I'm-The-Know-It-All-Prophet?_ Naruto asked irritably.

_Right, right, you're not a morning person. How do I keep forgetting that?_

"Can I just eat in peace?" grumbled the blond lowly as he lowered his hands. He picked his fork back up and dug in. The dream was the only thing on his mind as he ate, trying to decipher its meaning. That and what the nymphs did to make this Canadian bacon so damn delicious!

After breakfast, Naruto bid the children of Demeter farewell and as he left greeted his younger brothers and sisters with a smile. His destination was Cabin One, the home to Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and more importantly, his girlfriend. Stopping outside of Cabin One's door, Naruto bowed his head.

"Rai-Jiji, please grant me entrance," he said. The cabin's bronze door cracked open and a smile crossed the whiskered boy's face. "Thanks Rai-Jiji."

Naruto entered the bank-like interior of the cabin and shook his head at it. If he hadn't asked Annabeth to help him and Thalia add on a more livable portion to the cabin, after getting Zeus' blessing of course, Thalia would've been stuck sleeping on the ground in a corner out of the giant bronze statue of Zeus' sight. Naruto stood in front of said statue and framed the face in his hands, a look of thought on his face.

_Don't do it_, Helios warned.

"I'm not going to _do_ anything," said Naruto. He was known back in his home village for defacing important statues – in Naruto's opinion, the statues still needed a bit of color on their cheeks – and his godly grandfather's bronze statue would be a prime target if there were no chance of retaliation. No, he was not planning a prank. Now he was just looking to see if it needed a good polish. A spit-shine here and there never hurt anybody.

Naruto lowered his hands and walked past, going to the back wall to another set of bronze doors, pushing the cabin doors open as quietly as he could. This room was more inhabitable; there was a dresser and closet on the opposite wall, a television to his left and on the right was a large king sized bed that was occupied by a sole girl who had the black covers pulled up to her shoulder. She had short black hair, wild and untamed as it rested against her pretty face. Behind the closed eyelids were two electric blue eyes and her lips were pulled up in a small smile. Naruto almost regret having to wake her up.

Going to the side of the bed she was furthest from, Naruto silently climbed onto the soft mattress, getting a soft nonsensical mumble from the still sleeping girl. Laying himself so that he was flush against her back, Naruto lightly trailed a finger down her arm. Thalia shivered in her sleep and Naruto smiled. He lowered his lips and lightly kissed his way up her neck, making her release a soft sigh. Reaching her ear, Naruto stopped his light kisses and whispered to her.

"Time to wake up, Thalia-chan."

Thalia's smile fell into a frown and her eyebrows knitted together in annoyance.

"Few m're min's."

"No," said the blond into his girlfriend's ear. "It's time to wake up."

Thalia grumbled nonsense in her sleep-addled state, pulling the covers further up her shoulder as she turned away from the intruder that threatened her sleep.

"Thalia-chan, we're going over the **Rasengan** today," said Naruto. He had promised to help her develop her aerokinesis while he had the free time. Since he was legally not required to go to public school and had a bachelor's degree in English – something he constantly remind Chiron of whenever he was accused of being lazy during the school year – and the di Angelo siblings were in California with their father, Lord of the Underworld, Hades, Naruto officially had the easiest job in camp; relaxation. Of course, he sacrificed that to offer help where he could, be it with homework, projects or even just keeping up with training.

His words seemed to rouse Thalia from her slumber, as she started to stretch, her left arm shooting up as her muscles relaxed. Naruto watched her as she blearily examined her surroundings, something she did out of the habit she developed while growing up on the run from monsters. Thalia rolled onto her left side, facing him and her eyes began to lose the sleep that was in them.

"Mornin' sleepy face." Naruto teased. His girlfriend's lips quirked up into a small smile that made his grin widen.

"Hey," said Thalia softly. They both just sat there for a brief moment, electric blue orbs staring into sun filled oceans. Naruto moved himself closer and kissed her on the head.

"Meet me by the archery grounds after you finish waking up," he said softly. He pulled back and then vanished in a flash of golden light, leaving his girlfriend to shake her head at his antics. He did that every time he woke her up, ever since he started to do it on New Year's Day. Thalia felt her cheeks flush slightly at the thought of what happened the night before his new tradition started.

They had sat together on Half-Blood Hill at the base of her tree, the then smaller Peleus resting on the opposite side to guard the Golden Fleece. Thalia sat in her boyfriend's lap, both of them watching the fireworks that the members of Cabin Nine, Hephaestus' children, had put together. At midnight, Naruto, who had a relatively good sense of time as the reincarnated Titan-God of the Sun, had pulled Thalia into a kiss that made her toes curl. Their soft kiss turned into a small make-out session that was relocated to her cabin. Slowly, their session got hotter and hotter until Naruto forcibly broke away, both of them panting. When she asked why he stopped, Naruto said that he didn't want them to go too far and gestured to his reaction at her enthusiasm. It was the first time Thalia realized that they had somehow during their activity removed not only Naruto's shirt but hers started to come off as well.

_I have got to stop thinking about that_, Thalia thought as she tried to shake away the heat in her face. She rolled out of bed and went to the shower, cleaning up quickly before dressing in her usual punk attire and pulling her disguised Aegis onto her left wrist. She grabbed her mace canister and her leather jacket on her way out of the temple, quickening her pace as she recalled what Naruto had told her what he was going to try to teach her the day before.

The **Rasengan**.

It was the pride and joy of Naruto's arsenal, his ultimate attack with over fifty theoretical variations, thirteen practical versions Naruto himself developed. According to him, Apollo hadn't managed to complete the technique before his 'death' as Minato Namikaze and for fifteen years it was used in various incomplete forms. Naruto managed to complete the technique at age fifteen with the use of wind – his 'chakra nature' that had since changed to fire due to his resurrection – but it came with a drawback of nearly taking his right arm off. This was before he could regrow limbs, so it was dubbed what his country called a Forbidden Jutsu - a technique that would land you a kill on sight order for illegal use of - and it was an S-rank one at that due to the one-hit instant kill it was known for. She wouldn't be learning that technique, as Naruto had yet to reattempt using the attack, or any of them for that matter. Since she wasn't born in the Hidden Lands, Thalia lacked the one energy that Naruto used, chakra, and was left with her control over the elements. He said he would start her on duplicating the attack with wind.

Excited, Thalia nearly ran to the training location, but she managed to keep her cool as she walked. As she approached the archery grounds, Thalia saw Naruto hanging from a tree by his knees, performing some physical exercise of his own. She almost wanted to call him obsessed, but that's just how he was. If he was left waiting for too long he would do one of two things: either plan a prank worthy of Hermes' mind or drop to the ground and start doing push ups. His hard working mentality made him a great trainer and there were other perks to his constant physical activities. Evidence was all over his body, and Thalia wouldn't say it aloud, but she loved it.

Unfortunately, his physique also attracted attention from other girls; Thalia had caught many of Aphrodite's daughters staring at him, more than once a nymph asked for his help when a satyr was more than willing to do so, and even some of the minor Goddesses were popping in to get a look, none more so than Hecate, who had come very close last winter to making Thalia lose her cool. The daughter of Zeus shook her head once more to clear away those unsavory thoughts, focusing on her dangling boyfriend that was supposed to be teaching her something new.

"Whiskers, I'm here! You can stop showing off now," said Thalia as she noticed a few dryads popping out of trees just to get a look at the blond's bare chest. Instead of react, she decided to ignore them in favor of her boyfriend, who beamed at her while upside down.

"You sure you don't want me to continue?" he said. Thalia rolled her eyes, her smile still in place despite his teasing words.

"Get down here and teach me the raisin gun thing," Thalia said.

Naruto dropped down from his branch and flipped in the air, landing on his feet with a soft thud. He picked his shirt up and pulled it back on as he walked up to his girlfriend. The perks of being a child of the Sun God and the reincarnation of another included not being affected by the cold winter air. Where some may need heavy coats, Naruto would just need a light jacket. He was also a very good space heater according to Thalia.

"All right," said Naruto as he stood across from Thalia. "To make the Rasengan, one must be able to manipulate chakra that would cause it to rotate in several simultaneous directions while adding power to it until it becomes self sustaining. In short, this attack is all about control: power and constant direction at the same time. We'll start with the first step, rotation. Observe." He held his hand out and the technique came to life slower than usually in his palm as a light blue orb no bigger than a tennis ball. There were ripples along the edges of the sphere that he gestured to. "As you can see, we have the beginning of a sphere and it slowly starts to go out of control as you increase the rotation. But if you add more power to it . . ." The small sphere began to even out as it grew in Naruto's hand to the size of a softball.

"It balances out," said Thalia.

"Yes. However, if you focus too much on power . . ." The small sphere suddenly collapsed on itself.

"You lose the rotation and it falls apart."

"Exactly. That's why this is all about finding balance between the two. You can manipulate the wind to a pretty decent degree, so lets start by making a small sphere of wind."

"Okay," said Thalia. She held her hand out and closed her eyes in an effort to focus. Sure enough, after a moment she felt the chilly air above her hand start to gather and compact until there was a barely visible orb the size of a golf ball above her hand.

"Rotate it, don't compact it."

Thalia narrowed her eyes at the small orb, a bead of sweat balled up on her head as she concentrated and sure enough, the wind orb began to expand until it was just smaller than Naruto's first orb.

"Good. Now, speed the wind up. You can't power it yourself, so you'll have to make it move faster instead."

Thalia nodded, trying not to break her concentration as she thought about the wind becoming faster. The small orb of wind began to even out until it was the size of a baseball.

"Nice! Keep going, make the ball bigger, make the wind speed faster until you don't have to control it."

Thalia grit her teeth as she tried to do just that. The wind within the sphere sped up. It was going faster and faster.

"Don't forget about the direction of the wind," said Naruto.

"I've got it, Whiskers!" said Thalia. No sooner did she say that did the attack expand out of her control and burst, making Thalia fly back to the ground. She groaned and tried to put her hand on the ground to help her stand up. Thalia hissed in pain as soon as she put pressure on her hand, pulling it off the ground and looking at it. Her palm was covered in burns from the friction of the wind hitting her hand.

"Ow, that has to hurt," said Naruto. He was kneeling next to her and covered her hand with his. "_Generous father above, please heal my love._" Thalia's hand healed under a flash of golden light. Naruto gave a vulpine grin to his girlfriend. "There. Want me to kiss it, too?"

"Ha-ha." Thalia retorted with a sarcastic laugh, making him chuckle. Naruto grinned and helped her to her feet. She immediately began again, her stubborn determination fueling her desire to nail the training exercise.

* * *

They trained for hours, Naruto healing Thalia up whenever the attack would backfire on her and only breaking for lunch. After their break, they immediately dove back into the training on Thalia's insistence. Naruto thought it was very amusing to see his girlfriend get all worked up, though he kept that sort of information to himself since Thalia had vented her frustrations on an archery target, causing the sack to explode from the force of her lightning bolt.

It was around dinner that Naruto made Thalia stop. He had to go as far to throw her over his shoulder, despite her protests and threats of electrocution. Thalia didn't carry it out, being far too exhausted from her constant attempts at the mock **Rasengan** she was trying to create. He stopped her protests at his method of carrying her with a firm swat on her jean-clad rear, getting a very girlish yelp that made him laugh. Her retaliating pound on his back made him put her back down, getting an embarrassed punch in the shoulder despite the lack of an audience.

"Oh come on," said Naruto as he followed Thalia into the dining pavilion. "You can't be mad at me forever."

"I can try," said Thalia.

"You love me too much to stay mad at me."

"Maybe."

"That's not a no."

"It's not a yes either, Whiskers."

"I'll take what wins I can get," said Naruto with a shrug. Thalia rolled her eyes but allowed a small smile to cross her face. The two of them went to Zeus' table, Naruto pausing to silently ask her father for approval. He waited a second before sitting down. Naruto looked at his girlfriend with a smile. "So . . . Tomorrow is Valentine's Day."

"W-What about it?" said Thalia as she nearly choked on air and her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

"What do you want to do?" said Naruto. "I mean we could do something cliché like go see a movie, but I think _Annie is doing __**that**__ with Jackson_!"

The young blonde daughter of Athena blushed furiously at the announcement, her brothers and sisters snickering while other tables burst into laughter. She glared at Naruto, who waved cheekily from where he sat with a laughing Thalia. She had told Naruto in good confidence that she and Percy were going to hang out on Valentine's Day. Naruto had teased her about it, but said he was done. Seemed as though her 'big brother' needed to have one last laugh before the end of it all. She sank into her seat when a daughter of Ares asked when she and 'Prissy' were going to tie the knot; Annabeth's face flushed bright red and she swore that she'd somehow get Naruto back when Mitchel, a son of Aphrodite, asked her how long she'd been dating Percy.

Thalia calmed down from her laughter, snickering at Annabeth's plans for the next day, and shoved Naruto. "That was cruel, Whiskers."

"Of course it was, but as my cute widdle sis, Annie has to suffer my teasing. In private company and in public," said Naruto with a grin. His grin died down as he returned to their topic. "But seriously, Thalia-chan. What do you want to do tomorrow? We could go skydiving-Ow! Oh come on, that was the most obvious joke I've ever made!"

"It wasn't funny," said Thalia. She crossed her arms with a huff. After a few moments of thinking she sighed and dropped her arms. "I don't know. What do most couples do on Valentine's Day?"

"Go see movies," said Naruto, a finger being ticked off his hand. "Candle lit dinners, exchange romantic candies or gifts, give each other intimate massages, read poetry to one another, but most our age have steamy hot sex."

"Not that last one," said Thalia. Her cheeks had darkened even more than they already were at the thought.

"Don't worry about that. We'll take our time." Naruto smiled at her, his hand on hers and his thumb lightly rubbing her hand in circular motions. She smiled back at him and her hand turned around to lightly interlace fingers with him.

"Well, I guess we could watch a movie in the cabin. Maybe something, I don't know, not too romantic, but not too anything else," said Thalia softly. Naruto smiled and squeezed his hand around hers.

"I have the perfect movie in mind," he said with his small grin that made her heart skip a beat. It wasn't like his foxy smile, or his beaming one. This one was a small grin that said he had her back and he refused to share with anyone else.

Thalia opened her mouth to ask him what the movie was when a childish snicker interrupted them. The two looked around at the other tables, all of whom had calmed down and decided to leave the red-faced daughter of Athena alone, when another small laugh made them turn around. Standing behind them was a kid around the age of eight, a grin on his face, curly light brown hair and red eyes. He wore a white shirt and white shorts that fell down to his knees. White tennis shoes covered his feet and two white wings sprouted from his back.

"Mother was right, you two are very entertaining to watch," said the kid. He looked at the whiskered blond. "Especially you. First time I've actually seen a male godling that knew how to treat a girlfriend at your age."

"Mentally twenty-two," said Naruto. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. "So . . . Who are you?"

"Eros is the name and romance is the game," said the child-looking god with a grin. "You two are perfect."

"Perfect for what?" asked Thalia.

"As you said a second ago, Naruto Uzumaki, Saint Valentine's Day is tomorrow," said Eros. "Mother does love that day. Seeing so many forms of romance makes her so happy. As such, she gave me a job to inspire people to take actions that they normally wouldn't on any other day of the year, except for maybe New Year's Eve. However, I recently had a . . . disagreement with Father. He's taken my bow from me and hidden it."

"I thought the gods couldn't take another's symbol of power," said Thalia with a confused frown.

"That's true for the Olympians," said Eros with a frown. "They cannot take another's symbol. For minor gods and goddesses, they can do whatever. It's no wonder some have shifted to side with the Titans."

"That's very concerning," mumbled Naruto. He pushed the thoughts about what was to come later on aside and focused at the problem at hand. "So you want us to find it? Any hints on where to start?"

"Wait, why us?" Thalia asked.

"Because I said so, that's why," said Eros as his arms crossed.

"Just let it be, Thalia-chan," said Naruto, putting his hand on the shoulder of his defiant girlfriend. When she faced him, Naruto gave her a look before returning his attention to the minor love god. "Where should we begin?"

"I'd start with Detroit, Michigan," said the god. "Knowing my father he's going to be at a biker rally tonight, get in a fight or seven tomorrow and then come back to Olympus to celebrate Valentine's Night with my mother."

"Thanks for that heads up, now I'll never get those images out of my head," said Naruto. While he rubbed his temples, Eros chuckled.

"You _are_ funny," said Eros with a grin. He looked at Thalia. "Keep a tight grip on this one, little lightning girl. And Uzumaki, I want my bow back by midnight tonight, or my Mother's heart won't be the only one that's shattered."

The God of Love gave the two cruel smirk; spreading his wings and taking flight with a childish laugh before Thalia could ask what he meant by his statement. Naruto was rubbing his temples in frustration as he tried to forget portions of what Eros said, keeping the threat in mind as incentive not to fail. He stood up from the table and went towards' Chiron's, Thalia following after him.

"Just got a visit from Eros, God of Love and Desire, he gave Thalia and I a quest," said Naruto to the centaur, making Chiron choke on his meal at the surprising statement. "We'll be back at tomorrow at the latest."

"Wha-buh-huh?" Chiron was at a loss for words. He understood what Naruto had said, but was still trying to recover from the sudden information. Before he could argue against the statement, Naruto vanished in a flash of light.

The blond returned a second later, his golden bow hanging from his belt and his quiver hanging over his shoulder. He was once again wearing his white jacket with blue flames, the Uzumaki spiral on his back.

"Don't wait up!" said Naruto as he wrapped his hand around Thalia's waist. The two of them vanished in a bright flash of golden light, leaving a befuddled Chiron behind along with a smirking Mr. D.

"Well, at least he told you they were given a quest before they left," said Mr. D with a smirk as he took a sip of his Diet Coke.

* * *

Naruto and Thalia came out of the **Hiraishin** right in front of The Spirit of Detroit outside of the city's government building. Naruto stumbled back and rested against the bronze statue, winded from the far distance he teleported.

_Smooth move there, Uzumaki,_ said Helios with a chuckle. _You do know you could have just taken Zephyr, right?_

_We have a limited amount of time and I didn't think it out, all right? Uzumaki act, not think . . . Unless there's a new seal we haven't tried,_ Naruto thought to his past life. Thalia put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a look of concern.

"You okay, Whiskers?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a bit tired from the distance we moved to," said Naruto. He smiled reassuringly at her and stood upright as she retracted her hand. He sighed and looked at his wrist, doing a double take and groaning. "Oh, great. I forgot Kyu back at Cabin 13. He's never going to shut up when I get back."

_On the bright side, I'm the only voice in your head right now!_ Helios said.

"Oh who asked you?" mumbled Naruto.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"Nothing Thalia-chan, just talking to myself," said Naruto.

"If you say so," said Thalia. "So what are we looking for?"

"Not _what_, but _who_. Eros said his _father_ took the bow," said the blond demigod.

"Then who's his father?" said Thalia. Naruto gave her a look of disbelief and she met his eyes before it clicked. "No way."

"Yep."

"How is that possible?"

"Well, Aphrodite first whispered in his ear to drop his toga–" Naruto was interrupted with a punch to the shoulder.

"I know _that_, you perverted idiot!"

"Well excuse me for making sure."

"I _meant_ how did _he_ make Eros?"

"Eros takes after his mother. He's like Jackson, _total_ momma's boy."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Well, on the bright side, we don't have to waste time looking for my sore loser of an uncle."

"Why?"

"Look." He pointed down the street to their right as a giant motorcycle turned in their direction. It was black and had a flame décor about it. Naruto rolled his eyes as the biker pulled off the road and onto the sidewalk, the engine idling as he put the kickstand down. The tall, handsome and scarred form of Ares walked towards them, coming to a stop a good distance away with his arms crossing over his massive chest as he glared at the blond from behind his wrap around sunglasses.

"What are you doing here, brat?"

"Can't a guy come visit his uncle?" said Naruto. Ares' eyes narrowed visibly as the light behind the sunglasses intensified. The blond rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Geez, thanks for the vote of faith. If you have to know, Eros sent us to get his bow back."

"So he _didn't_ go crying to 'Dite? Good for him," said Ares with a proud nod. "It's about time that punk started to take action."

"And it's also good that Aphrodite didn't find out you might have ruined her favorite holiday," said Naruto. Thalia smirked at her half-brother as he glared at the blond.

"Shut it, brat."

"Give us the bow and neither of us will ever speak of it again."

"Now why would I just hand it over? I could always silence you two myself," said Ares, who began to radiate bloodlust. His bloodlust made Thalia slowly reach into her pocket for her mace canister and Naruto's hand started to hover over his kunai holster.

_Hey! Snap out of it!_ Helios voice broke Naruto out of his rising urge to fight. The blond shook his head and his hand that had uncapped his kunai holster reached up to press against his temple as he groaned. A final shake of his head cleared the angry fog that had been rolling in and Naruto snapped his sun filled eyes on his smirking uncle.

"You could kill us," he began, "but do you _really_ want to deal with Aphrodite after killing a pet project of hers?"

"Touché." Ares scowled and shifted to his other foot uneasily at the thought. The last time he did that he had blue balls for nearly two hundred years. "Well, since you put it that way, I guess I _could_ give you Eros' bow."

"Well . . . That was easy," said Thalia as the desire to fight faded away from her. She looked down at her spear in confusion. "Why did I pull this out?"

_Too easy,_ said Helios.

_Agreed_, thought Naruto as his eyes narrowed. He was getting the feeling that he was about to be extremely disappointed.

"I _would_ give you the bow," said Ares with an evil grin on his face, "_if_ I still had it."

"Why did I know you were going to say something like that?" said Naruto. He reached up with his hand and massaged his temples in frustration. That was just a natural side effect of dealing with Ares, though. It was something the God of War shared with Apollo, the ability to slip under your skin and irritate you without even trying. It had to be a Zeus thing.

"If you don't have it, why did you come to us?" said Thalia. "How did you even know we'd be looking for you?"

"I didn't come for _you_." Ares snorted and pointed at Naruto. "I came for him."

"Me?"

"Yes you, blondie. You've got enough power to fight on par with a Titan," said the God of War with a grin. "I wanted a piece of the action as soon as I felt that energy the Sunshine has been known to throw around."

"That would be the explanation of conveniently finding you, or you finding us, rather," said Naruto dryly. "Then do _you_ know where we could find Eros' Bow?"

"What's in it for me if _I_ help _you_?"

"A fight." Thalia looked at her boyfriend in surprise and Ares' lips spread into a vicious grin at Naruto's words. "I'll fight you one-on-one. But not today or tomorrow."

"Then when?" said Ares. He was gripping his large knife tightly in excitement at the prospect of a brutal fight. Heck, he hadn't been this excited for a fight with a godling since hearing about Poseidon's brat two years back.

"You pick. Any other day of the year aside from today and tomorrow, those are my terms. Take it or leave it."

Despite his sister's accusations, Ares knew when to and when not to start a fight. Using what little ounce of logic he had, Ares pieced together that if he helped these kids, he'd make Aphrodite happy. A happy Aphrodite equals a happy night for Ares. And he gets a fight out of the deal, too? It was a no-brainer.

"Done," said Ares with an eager grin. He offered his hand that Naruto hesitantly took. The blond demigod grunted as their hands burst into flame when Ares crushed his hand. "We'll fight on the bloodiest day your life has ever seen. Near that time, you will feel immense pain in your hand. Not even Sundance would be able to heal it."

"Fine," said Naruto. He pulled his hand away as quickly as he could and looked at it. There was nothing wrong, but Naruto knew that Ares had left his mark somewhere. Lowering his hand to his side, the son of Apollo looked at his uncle once again. "Where is Eros' Bow?"

"Go to my mother's city," said Ares simply. He turned around and walked to his ride. "The bow is at Dite's temple."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Thalia.

"You figure it out, little sister," said the God of War as he sat on his bike, kicking the stand back and revving the engine twice. He pointed at Naruto. "You better not die before our deal is fulfilled, Child of Prophecy. I expect to be the one to kill you."

Naruto said nothing and let the smirking Ares ride off with another word. His brows furrowed as he tried to figure out Ares' cryptic words. Dite's temple was simple enough, either it was a temple devoted to Aphrodite – highly unlikely considering today's world – or it was inspired by one of her domains and/or symbols. The first portion was what Ares meant; his mother obviously was Hera, Queen of Olympus.

"Did he mean Queens or is that too literal?" Thalia asked. Her mind was also working at the puzzle the normally blunt God of War left them.

"Maybe it doesn't relate to that title," said Naruto. He began pacing in order to think. "Let's see, Hera is the Goddess of Marriage, Home and Family."

"Goddess of the _perfect_ family."

Naruto rolled his eyes at Thalia's correction. It was no secret that Hera wasn't a fan of Zeus' half-blooded daughter and the same could be said of Thalia's feelings for her divine stepmother. He idly wondered what the Goddess thought of Jason, but quickly banished that to the back of his mind. It was too distracting to bring up now, especially given his current company.

"She's also the Patron of Women," said the blond as he paced in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue. "Hera's city . . . City of Women is a book . . . City of Home is a stupid name . . . Maybe her city is where The Family is most well known? Would that be Chicago or New York?"

"Do you really think Hera's City would be the one known as a home to the crime syndicate?"

"Hm, true."

"Isn't there a City of Marriage?"

At Thalia's question, Naruto paused and looked at his girlfriend as she looked back at him. Thalia saw his golden sun-filled blue eyes glaze over in thought. He barely blinked, just standing there. He was looking in her direction without really looking _at_ her. He was looking through something she couldn't see, but could imagine: his memories. Finally his hands went to his head and he gave a cry of realization. Naruto then took Thalia's hand in his own and pulled her into a kiss that left her in a slight daze. After they broke from the kiss, the blond burst into laughter.

"The City of Marriage," he said once his laughter died down. He moved his hands to cup her face before he kissed Thalia on the head and then pressed his forehead against hers. The grin he had on his whiskered face had her cheeks heating up in embarrassment, and they darkened with his next words. "You, Thalia Grace, are a genius. We haven't got a moment to spare, we've got to go where Tyche thrives and Nemesis lurks!" Naruto closed his eyes and kept his hands wrapped around Thalia's as he focused on the clearest landmark he could remember. He took a deep breath before he spoke. "**Hiraishin no Jutsu**."

The two vanished in a flash of light and reappeared next to a large steel construct in a city filled to the brim with lights and honking cars. Thalia had to catch Naruto as he practically collapsed, nearly knocking her over in surprise as he did. She frowned at him and he groaned in response.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked.

"I'm fine," said Naruto as he tried to steady himself. His legs gave out again and he released another tired groan. "Or not. It's weird, I didn't have this much trouble last time I teleported across the country."

"Well, maybe my father doesn't want you to abuse it."

"Or maybe there's something else regaining strength," grumbled Naruto as he righted himself with Thalia's help. He grinned at her. "Just get me something delicious to eat and I'll be back to my prime in no time, no need to worry!"

"If I was worrying, you'd know," said Thalia with a roll of her eyes. She looked away from her boyfriend and tried to focus on the bright buildings, her pupils still adjusting from Detroit's dusk lighting to the lighting here. "Where are we, anyway?"

"The City of Marriage," said Naruto looked up towards the nearest source of light, the tower right next to them. Thalia followed his gaze and gasped as she recognized the sign. Naruto's lips spread into a wide grin. "Thalia Grace, welcome to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada!"

* * *

The demigod couple wandered north through the southern portion of the Las Vegas Strip, stopping at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino to get some food. After tricking the mortals with some weak use of the Mist on Naruto's part, the two were seated at a table of a smaller restaurant within minutes. Naruto had asked for a steak and Thalia asked for a burger, when the blue-eyed girl looked at her boyfriend questionably.

"So what did you mean back at the sign, Whiskers?" she asked. "About how something else could be regaining strength."

Naruto nearly choked on the water he was drinking. He hadn't expected her to catch that!

"I didn't mean anything, Thalia-chan," said the blond as he looked at her. He gave her a reassuring grin. "Just your lovable idiot muttering nonsense."

"Don't lie to me, Whiskers."

"Okay, okay . . . Look." After he looked around for any sort of Greek (or Roman) that could be listening in, Naruto leaned in and spoke lowly. "My **Hiraishin** might be weakening because of the Crooked One's supposed return. It's a Time/Space technique half of it requires Time. He had the domain of time."

"I thought that your teleporting went through my dad's domain," said Thalia.

"Only by technicality. The domain of Space belongs, technically, to Ouranos, the original Sky Lord. But since Rai-jiji claimed the title as his own, he has command over space. Since the defeat of the Crooked One, Rai-jiji has been watching the domain of time, hence why Dad and I have been welcomed to use the **Hiraishin** without problems. If this issue keeps up I'll have to set up an anchor seal."

"If the Crooked One does come back, what then?"

"Well Dad and I can kiss **Hiraishin** goodbye until he's stopped. It'd be too much of a risk to use freely."

"Do you think Luke would actually – I mean I don't want to assume he will, but . . ." said Thalia, trailing off near the end.

"I'd like to say I couldn't believe him of all people would actually start the second Titanomachy," said Naruto, "but my faith in people like him were crushed a long time ago. He's not the first friend that's betrayed me."

Thalia frowned and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the arrival of their meal. Naruto's demeanor quickly turned around as he gave their waitress a charming smile and a kind thanks that had the young woman blushing. The blond quickly dug into his meal without another word, silently telling Thalia that the subject was closed. She didn't like it, but pushing the matter right now wouldn't be the wisest thing to do on her part. With reluctance, she dropped their conversation and dove into the burger that was placed before her.

* * *

Their meal was quiet, unnoticed by the excited commotion around them by vacationers and gamblers alike. The atmosphere was tense, but slowly dropping as they ate. By the time they had finished, their silence had broken a little and after the check had come – paid for by a _very_ generous and unaware employee of the hotel; Naruto was good with his hands – the two were once more talking openly, this time staying focused on the quest Eros had given them and the clue Ares gave.

"Aphrodite's temple, could it be at Caesar's Palace?" Thalia asked.

"That'd be a little _too_ obvious," said Naruto with a disagreeing shake of his head. "Plus, that's a Roman hotel, not Greek."

"_Is_ there a Greek hotel?"

"The Lotus Hotel."

"It can't be there, by the time we find the bow we'd be too late."

"That's true. Let's think about the area. We're in Las Vegas, the Sin City and also Hera's City, because of the high marriage rate."

"How do you know all of this?"

"An idea for a story hit me and I just researched the crap out of Vegas one night."

"A story?" Thalia gave her boyfriend a confused look.

"Did I mention I had a degree in English and Creative Writing?"

"Right. And you did that, how?"

"**Kage Bunshin**."

"Isn't that cheating?"

"Nope. I retain everything a clone learns. I earned those degrees fair and square."

"Whatever, Whiskers."

"Back to the task at hand," said Naruto. "There's almost forty major casinos on The Strip. One of them has to reference Aphrodite!"

"Well what do we know?" said Thalia as they walked north from Mandalay Bay. "She's the Goddess of Love."

"And Beauty, Lust, Desire, and Sexuality," said the blond with a shake of his head. "Not to mention being known as the Lady of the Doves. Doves are in Magic acts . . . Shit, we might as well go frisk Siegfried and Roy!"

Thalia snorted at the frustrated joke he made. Naruto sighed as they walked down The Strip. If only he could figure out what his uncle had meant by Aphrodite's temple. Goddess of Love, Beauty, Lust, and Desire . . . What a broad title. No wonder it was often shortened to Goddess of Love. Naruto and Thalia walked out of the way of a small crowd watching a street performer, a human statue. The blond appreciated the music but the silent dancer didn't do him any favors with the distraction.

"Watching those guys is like watching a mime," murmured Thalia.

Naruto nodded in agreement when it hit him. Modern mimes, the Goddess of Love and Las Vegas had one thing in common: France. Mimes are notorious in America for being a French stereotype; Aphrodite and her children were notorious for speaking and understanding French, the language of love; and Las Vegas had a casino named and dedicated to the infamous city of lights: Paris Las Vegas.

"I know where we need to go!" Naruto said, grabbing Thalia's hand and vanishing in a flash of light.

They reappeared outside of a large casino and hotel that drew its inspiration from many locations and monuments in France, the most notable being the scaled replica of the Eiffel Tower. Naruto wasn't as drained as he was from the two other trips, but that was because of the much shorter distance compared to the previous two jumps. Naruto moved his right arm to wrap around Thalia's shoulder and he waved his other hand in front of them, speaking with a very obviously fake French accent.

"Just you and me, alone together, in a honeymoon sweet near the Eiffel Tower! Is _very_ romantic, no?"

"Knock it off, Whiskers," said Thalia, lightly laughing at his antics and shoving him lightly.

"Alright, well we found Aphrodite's temple. Now we just have to search the place," said Naruto as he and Thalia walked into the casino. They entered the lobby and were blown away by the interior. Naruto whistled at the modern-temporary layout, the white marble and polished brass looked amazing. "Annie ain't got nothin' on whoever made this."

"She was probably related to whoever made this," said Thalia, pointing out the hole in his statement.

"True that-Ow!" Naruto stumbled back after colliding with a large tower of brown boxes that tumbled to the ground. He winced and immediately began to pick them up. "Sorry about that, man. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"I could tell, Uzumaki." Naruto looked up at the amused voice and was surprised to see the UPS' clad Hermes grinning down at him. The God of Messengers laughed at his nephew's surprised face before snapping his fingers, the packages restacking themselves on his dolly. "No worries, Uzumaki! There was nothing breakable in there . . .I think."

"Uncle Herm? What are you doing here?" said Naruto.

"My job, what else?" said Hermes with a shrug. "Had to make a couple of drop offs and pick ups here."

"At a casino?" said Thalia. Her voice was full of disbelief.

"Well duh, how else was I going to regain all that money you stole from me?" said Hermes as he gave a pointed glare to Naruto.

"I didn't steal it from you! You lost a bet!" said Naruto as he defended himself.

"Shouting at a UPS guy about stealing something in Vegas _inside_ a hotel. How low you have fallen, Naruto," said Hermes. His arms were crossed and he shook his head in disappointment. "I have half a mind to just call for security."

"I-But-You." Naruto failed to find the appropriate way to react. Thalia couldn't repress the snicker at her boyfriend's outwitting and Hermes gave a few chuckles.

"Oh, take a joke kid! Look, I know why you're here," said Hermes. "The package you're looking for was just delivered to the main vault. Go in through the casino and take a left once you get there." The god pulled his dolly back and rolled around them. "Wish I could help you more, kid, but I've got stuff to do!"

"Thanks anyway, Uncle Herm," said Naruto. He rubbed his head and gave a smile to his girlfriend. "For a second there I really thought he was going to lay into me for the bet."

"Looks like Tyche smiles on you again, Whiskers," said Thalia with a small smirk.

"It's because I'm so irresistible."

"Humble, too."

"Ha-ha-ha. Ladies and gentlemen, Thalia! The Goddess of Comedy."

"Just shut up and lead me to the casino." He gave her a confused glance and she returned it with one of her own. "You do know where the casino is, right Whiskers?"

"I researched The Strip, I never came here," said Naruto. He shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Wonderful."

"It's _not_ the end of the world, Thalia-chan," said Naruto with a roll of his eyes. "Let's just go ask the front desk."

Before Thalia could tell him how she felt about that idea, Naruto walked up to the counter and leaned against it. A smiling man stood on the other side, dressed in a nice suit with a nametag on the left of his chest.

"Hello . . . Jeremy," said Naruto, reading the man's nametag. "I was wondering if you could tell me how to get to the casino from here?"

"Ooh, well I don't know. May I see your license?"

Naruto rolled his eyes as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the leather wallet he's had since he arrived on this continent. Stupid mortal laws, Konoha was much simpler, flash the headband and you get a drink. Not that he ever did, but more than once he had to tap the plate on his head in order to get into some of the Red Light Districts that Ero-Sennin tried to lose him in. He gave the man his ID and then waited for the appropriate amount of time – as in, longer than he should have had to wait – for the clerk to run his ID through the usual procedures: check photograph, check for laminations, double check the date on the card, etc. Naruto forced a grin as he took his ID back and returned his wallet to its rightful place.

"Go right, and take the first hall on the left. You'll see a set of double doors and there you are," said Jeremy.

"Thanks," said Naruto with a believable smile. He turned around and walked back to Thalia, who looked at him in surprise.

"So how'd you do that?" Thalia asked as Naruto led her towards the casino.

"Do what?"

"Get the clerk to tell you where the casino was."

"I gave him my driver's license."

" . . . No seriously."

"Honest to Olympus."

"How does that work?!"

"My ID says I was born in 1986."

" . . . You're something else, Whiskers."

"Tell me something I don't know, Thalia-chan."

The couple entered the casino and started looking for something that screamed 'the vault is this way!' Naruto and Thalia began walking into the casino, passing blackjack, craps, roulette tables and slot machines as they did. Naruto's keen eye took notice of a man walking through a door to the far side. He nudged Thalia and jerked his head in the direction and she nodded. They went to the door and looked around for anyone watching them before slipping into the door.

The door led them to a marble hallway that they walked down, keeping an eye out for any more security guards. The hallway turned to the right at a sharp angle and Naruto stopped against the wall, pulling Thalia with him. He peered around the corner and saw the man he saw before walking back in their direction.

"We've got a guy coming our way," said Naruto quietly. "Press yourself against the wall and hold my hand." Thalia slipped her smaller hand into his and opened her mouth to ask what next when he shushed her. Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. Bending the light around himself was easy. Bending the light around two people, not as simple.

Thalia watched as her boyfriend slowly disappeared into the white wall and then looked down when she felt a warm tingling sensation in her hand. Her hand was becoming invisible. Then her arm vanished into the wall and she heard footsteps approach. She released a quiet yet sharp gasp as the warm feeling passed over her neck and up her face as well as going down her side and across her stomach. The footsteps grew louder and Thalia felt her heartbeat increase at the suspense.

"Breathe through your nose." Was the whispered advice Naruto gave her. Thalia did and took a few deep breaths. She held it as the security guard rounded the corner, walking past them without a care in the world. They waited until he was a decent distance down the hall and then shimmied around the corner, breaking from the wall once they were both clear. They returned to the world of visibility with ease, becoming real once more.

"Well," Naruto began with a small smile, "that was fun."

Thalia only shook her head.

They continued their trek down the hallway and ran into a large steel vault door. Naruto put his hand against it and frowned. This was too obvious. He ran his hand along the side of the vault until he touched the wall on his right, which rippled under his hand. Naruto looked at Thalia and she returned it, both of them surprised by this discovery. The blond demigod moved his hand to the wall adjacent to the right of the vault and knocked on it. It was solid. He moved his hand back to the wall made of Jell-O and rapped his knuckles on it, getting no sound. Only ripples. Naruto took a deep breath and plunged his hand deeper into the false wall. His hand met air and he pulled it out.

"Mistform," mumbled Naruto. Thalia gave him a confused look that prompted Naruto to explain himself. "People with the ability to manipulate the Mist like me can bring things to life in the Mist. I never got that far in my training because I felt that altering mortal minds was much more useful."

_Hecate must really want to finish her lessons,_ said Helios, an audible smirk on his face.

_Quiet,_ Naruto thought with a frown as he ran his hand over the wall. "Whoever put this here didn't want humans to even acknowledge it, which was why we didn't notice it until I touched it. My chakra and own affinity for the Mist must have caused it to falter."

"So who put it here?" asked Thalia.

"We're going to find out," said Naruto with a frown. He reached down and took Thalia's hand as he walked through with her. They came out of the Mistform wall to another hallway similar to the last. With annoyed groans, they began their trek down the halls once again.

That is until they came across two large bronze doors adorned with doves.

"Well I'll be damned," said Naruto. "Aphrodite's temple."

They pushed the doors open and walked in. The temple was filled to the brim with statues depicting Aphrodite and various other lovers in an embrace. But what got the two demigods' attentions was the white bow hanging from the far wall.

"Finally," said Thalia in relief. Naruto shared a grin with her. Who knew that finding a hidden bow would take so long? Naruto and Thalia walked over to the bow, Naruto reaching out to grab hold of it, when it vanished.

"What the-?"

"Bravo, Uzumaki," said a familiar voice that caused the two demigods to spin on their heels. From the open doors stepped in Hermes, in all his brown short clad glory, his hands clapping slowly and a strange smile on his face. "Bravo. You found Eros' Bow, little demigods."

"Uncle Herm?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing as his brows furrowed in confusion. "You took Eros' Bow?"

"Why of course!" said Hermes. "I've been slacking off in my mischief that I figured it was about time to remind everyone that I was the God of Thieves."

"So you took it from Ares, is that it?" said Thalia.

"I did. And he was so willing to give me his son's bow," said Hermes.

"_Give_ you the bow?" said Naruto as his brows furrowed. "I thought you took it."

"Such a smart boy!" Hermes laughed at him. "My, the years do make you blind, but that doesn't mean you're deaf, does it _Uzumaki_? And here I thought you hadn't regained everything. Though I suppose it really isn't fair considering your current handicap."

"What handicap?"

"The one where you think you are a demigod," said Hermes. "Where you deny your past as the Titan of the Sun!"

"I don't think that's Hermes, Whiskers," said Thalia as she reached for her spear. The real Hermes had thought it was amazing that the old Titan-God had become a demigod. This Hermes was accusing Naruto of being a false identity. That was two very different opinions, even for a god.

"Clever, clever, girl. You always did have an attraction to smart and pretty ones, _Uzumaki_." Hermes grinned and brought his left hand above his head and slowly lowered it. "Let me slip into something more . . . comfortable."

'Hermes' became shorter, his body changing from a man's to a woman's as it did. The UPS standard uniform became a dark silk dress and 'Hermes' hair changed from a white blond to a pitch black with threads of gold laced within, the eyes of the imposter becoming a piercing emerald green. A small grin spread across the woman's beautiful face.

"Hecate?" said Naruto quietly. He shook his head and pulled out his bow. "No, you're not Hecate. She doesn't hide herself from me."

"Thanks for the reminder, Whiskers," said Thalia with a glower that her boyfriend sheepishly shrugged at.

"I'm flattered you think I'm my mother, _Uzumaki_, but no. I am not she," said the woman as she sauntered forward. "I did not expect Eros to actually come to _you_ for aid. I half-expected that little blonde annoying daughter of Athena and her little boyfriend Percy."

"Man, did everyone but Percy see Annie's feelings for him?"

"Don't make jokes, Whiskers," said Thalia with a scowl. "_Aegis_." Her shield appeared on her wrist and she held it defensively. "Now is not the time."

"Do you really not recognize me, _Uzumaki_?" said the woman, ignoring their comments. She stopped approaching them and frowned. "Has it been so long that you forgot what your immortal daughter looked like?"

"Immortal daughter?" said Thalia with her brows furrowed. The woman glanced at her in annoyance before flicking her hand to the side. An invisible force pulled Thalia to the side and made her knock into a statue of Adonis and Aphrodite before she fell to the ground.

"Thalia-chan!" Naruto exclaimed in worry. He looked back at the woman with a scowl, tightening his grip on his bow.

_Immortal daughter, Hecate is her mother . . . It can't be!_ Helios said as he made the connection.

"You're Circe!" The reincarnated god was quick to follow his past life's way of thinking and came to the same conclusion. He quickly drew an arrow and nocked it, taking aim at the Immortal Sorceress.

Circe gave Naruto a wide smile. "I knew some part of you still remained, Father!"

_Oh she has no idea,_ said Helios.

_You're telling me_, thought Naruto.

"Come now, Father you're not seriously going to keep aiming at me, are you?" asked Circe. "After all, with the others faded or locked away by the _Olympians_, we're all we have, now!"

"Give me Eros' bow," said Naruto as he held the arrow strong, aiming at the minor Goddess' head. Annabeth had told him about her tendency to turn boys into guinea pigs. He was not looking to live on pellets for the rest of his life.

"Don't tell me you're going to buy into that lie the _Olympians_ fed you. A reincarnated god, don't make me laugh," said Circe with an amusement. "The _Olympians_ didn't want you to regain your power and when you were weak locked you away until you were needed again!"

"I said give me Eros' Bow."

"Father, it's me. Circe . . . Lower your bow."

_She's using Charmspeak!_ Helios said. _She must have used Charmspeak to get the bow from Ares, which explains why that lug could give us a puzzling tip. She planted it when she took the bow from him. This whole thing has been a trap to get to us!_

_I think she's more into getting to you, Helios_. Naruto thought back. He had felt the influence seep over him and quickly began to fluctuate his chakra. As long as she had Charmspeak to use, he was limited on jutsu. Primarily down to the **Rasengan** and **Hiraishin**, and the second one didn't count as a jutsu since it became a divine blessing.

"Lower your bow, Father," said Circe softly as she put her hand on the weapon. "And help the right side in the upcoming war."

Naruto took a step back and jammed the arrowhead in her face, startling the Immortal Sorceress with the action. His sun filled blue eyes narrowed as they met her piercing green. "Give. Me. Eros' Bow."

"If that's the way you want it to be, Father, then so be it," said Circe with a frown. She stepped away from him, walking while still facing him towards the bronze doors. A small smile curled at her lips. "You may have found this temple, but you didn't bother checking for other Mistform walls, did you?"

Naruto didn't have time to ask what she meant, as she snapped her fingers and the doors flew open. Walking in from behind Circe was a monster that he had yet to face, but his little sister had said Percy had almost died against it. The Chimera, a beast with a lion's head, a blood-colored mane, the body of a goat and a ten foot long tail with the head of a . . . of a . . .

"SNAKE!" Naruto screamed. The Chimera sent a burst of fire his way and Naruto used his ability to walk on walls to retreat to the sanctuary of a marble while wall. Let it be known that Naruto wasn't afraid of snakes, no. He just _hated_ them with a passion.

Being eaten by a snake nearly eighty feet in length left it's psychiatric scars, who knew?

"Die snake, die, die, die!" Naruto shot arrow after arrow at the tail of the Chimera, ignoring the fire-spewing head or any other lethal targets such as Circe, who was watching this with interest. The arrows missed as the serpentine tail swerved out of the way with a hiss.

_Naruto._

"Die!"

_Oh this is ridiculous!_

"Vile monster! Die already!"

_Naruto Uzumaki! Snap out of it!_

"Gotta kill the snake," said Naruto. He pulled another arrow out and flicked the end of the nock. The quad-edge triangular arrowhead whirred before it split open into an X shape. Crazed sun-filled blue eyes narrowed on the hissing tail of the Chimera.

"_Die_."

He released the arrow and watched with satisfaction on his face as it flew. The tail of the Chimera hissed once again and opened its mouth to spew some acid when the arrow finally reached its target. The top of the snake's head was ripped off, portions of the back of the tail being pulled along with it and causing acid to spew in Circe's direction. The Immortal Sorceress conjured a Mistform shield that took the brunt of the damage, causing her to scowl.

"That almost hurt me, Father!"

"You're the one that brought in the _snake_!" said Naruto. He looked down at the Chimera as it roared in pain and anger, breathing fire as far as it could in his direction. Naruto scowled and pulled another arrow out, nocking it and taking aim. His sixth sense for danger suddenly blared.

"Incantae: Igneus!"

Avoiding the small blue ball of fire that was sent his way, Naruto jumped to the ground with a good distance between himself, Circe and the Chimera. He chanced a glance to the unconscious Thalia.

_Must've knocked herself out on Adonis' rock hard abs,_ said Helios. The blond ignored the joke, returning his gaze to the Immortal Sorceress and the Chimera.

"So, two-on-one, eh? Alright then," said Naruto as he took aim at the fire-breathing monster. He released the arrow and immediately went into a dive to avoid the blast of magical fire that Circe sent his way. The Chimera ducked under the arrow and charged at him, fire shooting from its mouth when it was in his proximity.

Naruto shielded his face from the heated attack, preparing to feel pain on his arm when he felt nothing but warmth. Peeking out over his arm in confusion, he felt his eyes widen at the sight before him. The flames coming from the Chimera's mouth were flowing over his arm like it was just a strong warm breeze. Naruto pulled his arm away and let the flames hit him head on. He heard Circe give a surprised cry and ordered the Chimera to stop attacking him, making Naruto wonder what changed. The fire vanished, it's source extinguished at the order of the Immortal Sorceress, and Naruto felt more energized than before.

"C'mon then!" Naruto said, taking a shot at the Chimera. The arrow was sent to the other side of the room by a blast of Circe's magic. Naruto's jaw set in annoyance as he looked at Circe.

"This is foolish, Father," said Circe. She snapped her finger and his quiver went flying through the air. "You belong on the side of your kin!"

"I am siding with my kin! I'm a demigod, dammit!"

"You are _Helios_! Titan of the Sun! Do not make the same mistake you made eons ago by siding against your family!"

_Oh, that does it! Kid, I think it's time we show my _darling_ little sorceress just who she is messing with._ Helios said with burning determination in his voice.

"You said it, Helios," said Naruto with a grin. He rose to his full height and tightened his grip on the bow in his hand. His eyes narrowed as his grin widened. "Let's Light It Up!"

Pure golden light filled Aphrodite's temple beneath Paris Las Vegas as Naruto was engulfed in flames, causing Circe to shield her eyes at the intensity of the light. The blue Greek markings spread from his chest to his shoulders and then down his arms to the back of his hands. A long trail of markings went down either leg while Naruto gained a gleaming blue symbol of Olympus on his forehead.

"W-What is this?" said Circe as her hands lowered from shielding her face. She took a step back in worry as she felt her father's power wash over her. "Father . . . Have you returned to us?"

Naruto's answer was for his eyes to snap open, two small blue suns floating in golden orbs locking on Circe's green eyes once again. This time, he wasn't afraid to play dirty. Naruto didn't even draw an arrow, using his bow as a staff to bat away the Chimera as it pounced at him. The heavy monster shattered through a statue of Ares and Aphrodite.

"_Whoops,_" said the dual voiced demigod. "_My bad. Sorry about that, Aphrodite._"

"Father," said Circe. She had a crazed smile on her face and she knelt before him. "Titan of the Sun, Helios. Welcome back! We can make condolences to grandfather and-!"

"_You are one messed up chick, you know that?_"

Circe looked up in confusion, allowing Naruto to grip one end of his bow and swing upwards, cracking a blow at her chin and making the Immortal Sorceress fly back into a pillar. Naruto looked at his bow and back at the groaning mystic with a grin.

"_Kyu, you're about to miss out on some seriously fun times,_" said Naruto as he walked forward. Circe panted and pushed herself to her feet, locking her furious green eyes on him in a glare.

"You're stubborn Father, I'll give you that! But if violence will remind you of who you are then so be it!" she said. She extended her hand in his direction. "Incantae: Fulmine!"

A small bolt of lightning shot from her hand at the glowing demigod. Naruto used his bow like a baseball bat, hitting the magical blast to the side where it struck a pillar.

"Fulmine!"

"_Would you knock it off?! Aphrodite is going to be pissed if we destroy this place!_" said Naruto as he batted the bolt to the side. "_Last thing I need is for her to mess with my relationship with Thalia-chan!_"

"Incantae: Fulmine Multa!"

Naruto found himself on the defensive as many lightning bolts, almost dancing as he batted the mystical attacks away. The glowing demigod began walking forward, deflecting Circe's frantically increasing magic attacks with his golden bow.

Behind him, Thalia began to stir. She pushed herself to her knees with a groan and looked up to see her boyfriend in his glowing form. The sound of something shifting gained her attention and Thalia looked to see a monster she recognized from her class at camp as the Chimera getting up onto the debris covered podium where a statue of Ares and Aphrodite used to rest. As the Chimera prepared to pounce, Thalia followed it's gaze and scowled as she realized it was going to attack Naruto. Lifting her now lightning encased spear, Thalia spun it around in her hand and pulled her arm back before she made the weapon fly. The spear tore through the air and pierced through the Chimera's hide, getting a pain-filled roar from the creature before it burst into golden dust. With the monster slain Thalia got to her feet and returned her attention to her glowing boyfriend.

"_I am through playing games, Circe!_" said Naruto. He was almost an arm's length away from the Immortal Sorceress; still batting away lightning bolts as they flew at him. "_Give me Eros' Bow!_"

"No! Father, please don't kill me! I concede! I concede!" Circe was trying to meld herself into the wall, backing away from Naruto with her hand outstretched. From the look in her eyes, Naruto could tell she truly believed that he was Helios and that he was mad at her. Tears were welling up in her eyes and she slid down the pillar, making the glowing demigod tower over her. "I concede."

Naruto's hard gaze softened slightly at the whimpering immortal. He collapsed his bow with a flick of his wrist and placed it on his belt. Whether it was Helios' presence within him or just his own kindness, the blond felt bad for putting the fear of Tartarus into Circe. From what he could see, she was in denial that her father had faded. Using his power against her must have reduced her mentality – fragile as it already was – to that of a child. The event was very rare, but not unheard of when an elder immortal punished a younger one. He crouched down, looking at her tear filled green eyes with his blue sun filled golden orbs.

"_Circe,_" he said. "_Did you Charmspeak the God of War into getting the Bow of Eros for you?_"

"Yes, Father," she softly replied.

"_Why?_"

"Originally I wanted to get back at that conniving little daughter of Athena," said Circe softly. Her face turned sour. "She cheated! Just like that Argonaut! And then those filthy pirates overran my spa; I was forced to leave it all behind! I prayed to mother and to the Olympians for help but none came so I turned to Kro-!"

"_You will __**not**__ say his name!_" said Naruto.

"The Crooked One," said Circe, amending her words. "I turned to the Crooked One's emissary, a child of Hermes. He promised me that the island would be mine once again if I stirred up trouble between the near impossibly unbreakable relationship between Ares and Aphrodite."

"_Love and War arguing would make things a lot more difficult for the world. The balance would become wrecked. Aphrodite wouldn't keep Ares from favoring sides in a war that could result in many lovers' permanent separation,"_ said Naruto. He furrowed his glowing brow in confusion. "_How would this get you vengeance on Annabeth Chase?_"

"I was too sure that _Annabeth_ would be visited by Eros," said Circe. "It's no secret that Aphrodite was going to have him make something happen tomorrow! Why wouldn't he send his mother's favorite pet project?"

_Because he's smarter than that,_ thought Naruto.

"But then he sent you." Circe looked at him, tears pouring down her pretty face. "When I heard you returned Father I was elated. When I discovered that Eros sent you instead of _Annabeth_ I knew that I had to turn you over to our side! Your power would help me regain my island! Please, Father, please help me! Please!"

"_Stop begging!_" said Naruto. "_I've heard enough. Give me Eros' Bow, Circe, and I will not kill you for betraying Olympus._"

Circe looked as though she had been slapped. Shakily, she snapped her fingers and Eros' Bow appeared next to them. It was white, nearly as long as Naruto's own bow, but much wider at the part of the limbs near the grip, making each white limb look like a stretched out heart. Naruto looked at the bow and then back to Circe. She had a look of

"_Run away from this fight, Circe,_" said Naruto. "_Run away and never come back until it is done. Do not go back to the emissary, do not pray to the Olympians, for they have heard every word spoken here._"

"H-How?"

"_We are in one of Aphrodite's Temples,_" said Naruto. "_Do you really think that she could, let alone would, keep it a secret?_"

Circe said nothing at that, merely looking at his unique eyes. She slowly reached up and cupped his face, rubbing along the rough blue whisker mark on his left cheek with her thumb. Her hand retracted after Thalia made a noise as she picked up her spear. Circe put her hand on the ground.

"Incantae: Gelu Semita."

Beneath her, a large circle of ice appeared and she fell through it slowly. Naruto kept his eyes on her, watching the Immortal Sorceress disappear beneath the frozen water while she looked back at him in depression. After her whole body had disappeared beneath the ice, the small portal closed up and vanished. He was impressed with the technique, but frowned at it all the same once it was gone. It brought up the unpleasant memory of Haku and his (her?) death.

Naruto grabbed Eros' Bow, looking at it with a frown as his golden flame died out, and stood up. He turned around and faced his girlfriend, who smiled at him and held up a large goat horn with a bit of blood red fur at the base of it. Thalia looked at the bow in his hand and back at him.

"Did we get it?" said Thalia.

Naruto grinned. "We got it."

_But did you get it in time?_ Helios asked, making Naruto's eyes widen as he remembered the time requirement. He grabbed Thalia's hand and pulled her against him, teleporting them to the outside of Paris Las Vegas. Thalia was slightly flushed at their intimate position and slightly disappointed when Naruto stepped away, the bow in hand as he looked past the neon lights at the dark sky above him.

"It's eight-fifty-seven here," said Naruto quietly. He furrowed his brows in thought in order to do the math. "That means we have three minutes and forty-two, forty-one seconds."

"So then get with the teleporting," said Thalia. Naruto frowned as he looked at his girlfriend.

"Thalia-chan, I nearly passed out when I teleported here from Detroit," he said. "I wouldn't be able to deliver Eros' bow in time!"

"Naruto," said Thalia, gaining her boyfriend's attention. She had a look of annoyance on her face. "I was given the quest, too."

" . . . Right." Naruto gave Thalia the bow with an apologetic look on his face. He then wrapped his arms around Thalia and stole a kiss from her, making her look at him like he had grown a third head with a slight flush on her cheeks. He grinned. "If I'm going to go to sleep, I want the incentive to have some nice dreams."

"Idiot." mumbled Thalia with a small smile.

"You know you love it," said Naruto with a grin. "**Hiraishin no Jutsu!**"

* * *

The couple reappeared at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill, the border of Camp Half-Blood, and as he expected, Naruto immediately slumped to the ground unconscious. Thalia knelt next to her boyfriend, checking to make sure he was just unconscious, before rising to her feet and holding the bow above her head. "We got it! We have the bow!"

There was silence and for a moment, Thalia wondered if Eros was going to ignore her because he wanted to get the weapon from Naruto. Her concern seemed to be for naught as Eros landed in front of her, panting slightly as his wings folded up. He snatched the bow from her and gave the blond at her feet a dirty look.

"Definitely a son of Apollo," said Eros. "I was just about to land outside Paris when he teleported! Making me rush back over here and then passing out before I could yell at him. The jerk."

"You're preaching to the choir on that one," said Thalia as she recalled the moment in the previous winter where Naruto passed out after losing an arm. Eros looked at her for a moment before his face spread into a grin.

"You're just as amusing to watch as he is, Thalia Grace," he said. The minor God of Love looked at his bow as it was engulfed in a small bright light, changing form to become a small Nerf gun that he spun in his hand like a cowboy would. He stuffed the gun into the holster at his hip and gave the daughter of Zeus a grin. "Thanks for getting it back from Circe for me."

"You knew?" said Thalia. "Why didn't you just snap Ares out of the Charmspeak?"

"And ruin a quest that would make you two have a good Valentine's Day?" Eros laughed. "I don't think so. I'll see you tomorrow, Thalia Grace, even if you don't see me. Not that you'll want to."

He left before Thalia could even try to retort, leaving her with her unconscious boyfriend just at the borders of Camp Half-Blood. The daughter of Zeus' cheeks darkened with Eros' farewell, wondering about the possibilities of what he could have meant. Being the daughter of the notorious King of Olympus – and a teenage one at that – some of her speculations were not the purest of thoughts.

Thalia's thoughts were broken as she heard the harpies shrieking in the camp and knew that going in now wouldn't be the best idea. She couldn't exactly leave Naruto at the base of the hill either. Thalia looked at her pine at the top of the tree, back down at her unconscious boyfriend, and then back at the tree with a grimace.

"The things I do for you, Whiskers," said Thalia. She reached down and slipped her arms under Naruto's, pulling him up the hill. Now, Thalia wasn't exactly weak when it came to physical strength, but Naruto weighed about one hundred and ninety-two pounds of pure muscle and she was pulling him uphill.

Yeah, the world of physics was against her at the moment.

Thalia grunted and grumbled under her breath as she dragged her boyfriend up the hill. She finally reached her tree and looked at the wary Peleus. She let go of Naruto, letting him drop to the ground with a small thud. Thalia fell to her butt next to him, the excitement of the quest having drained her of her energy. She looked at her boyfriend, whose face was set in a rare serene image of peace, and smiled slightly.

* * *

Naruto's eyes snapped open at the blare of a bugle before squeezing shut once again. His head was killing him. With a groan he sat up and rubbed at his eyes.

"It's about time you woke up."

The blond turned and looked at his girlfriend, smiling at him from where she lay on Half-Blood Hill. Naruto smiled back at her.

"Sorry, I was having a really nice dream. Did Eros get his bow on time?"

"Yeah, but he says that you're a jerk for making him fly all the way from Vegas to Camp Half-Blood. And I think you're a jerk because I had to stay awake all night with an eye out for Kindly Ones," said Thalia as she sat up and stretched. She winced and rubbed at her back. "All I want to do is lay down in my bed and get some more sleep. Hitting a stone statue and then sleeping in the dirt sucks."

"That," Naruto began as he reached out and took her hand in his, "sounds like a great idea."

They smiled at each other before standing up from their makeshift bed. Their hands were intertwined as they walked into camp, ignoring the world around them. Naruto and Thalia made a beeline for Cabin One, with the daughter of Zeus pushing the door open as soon as they got there. Thalia tried to rush in but met resistance as her still intertwined hand met resistance. She turned and looked at her boyfriend, rolling her eyes as he bowed his head and asked for entry. Thalia tightened her grip on Naruto's hand and pulled him inside, the bronze door to the cabin slamming shut behind them and causing a few rumors to spread throughout the year-rounders that saw them. Boy was Cabin Ten thrilled to hear about _that_ scene later that day.

Naruto followed his girlfriend tiredly through the cabin, both of them nearly crying in joy at the sight of Thalia's bed as they got to the bedroom. They kicked their shoes off and tossed their jackets to different sides of the room before the couple climbed onto the bed, collapsing on it with a content sigh.

Naruto snorted as he thought of something. "You know, we should be ready to be teased tomorrow or asked about-oh."

Thalia was already asleep, her eyes shut and soft snores leaving her mouth. The blond demigod let a warm smile cross at his face. He reached over and rubbed the back of his index finger against Thalia's cheek. He couldn't have done this quest without her, looking too deep into things and overlooking the simplest of titles. Sure, he figured out the end destination, but it was always after something the daughter of Zeus had said. Naruto would've told her how grateful he was to have her at his side and how important she was to him. For now Naruto was content to watch her sleep, his eyes looking at her with adoration and the beginnings of love.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Thalia-chan."

* * *

**AN: There it is, my Valentine special. I'll probably clean it up a bit someday soon, but for now, I'm content with how it is. I hope you enjoyed the story that was deemed fluff and I hope all my readers had a nice Valentine's Weekend.**

**Review!**


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